APOSTOLATE. — 1) In its proper and literal sense, it generally means the work of one who devotes himself entirely to the dissemination of religious, moral, and civic truths. But in a narrower and etymological sense, a. is the religious and supernatural authority that Our Lord Jesus Christ conferred upon twelve of his disciples, whom he himself called “apostles,” that is, “those sent,” because they were sent by him to various parts of the earth to proclaim the evangelical law and the Christian faith. Among the Jews, the Greek word a. was used to designate a commission, properly called that of the “apostles of the Synagogue,” which consisted of men authorized and dispatched by the high priest to the various provinces to collect money there from their fellow countrymen of the Diaspora, or to regulate discipline there (v. APOSTOLI).
In ancient ecclesiastical practice, a. was generally the name given to the entire episcopate, since the individual bishops are the direct descendants and successors of the apostles in the ministry and teaching of the Gospel.
2) The official a. in the Church contains both the power and the obligation, for whoever is invested with it: a) to instruct with supernatural authority in the truths of the faith; b) to administer the Sacraments canonically in order to communicate to souls the grace of which Jesus Christ made them ministers; c) to govern one’s own flock, promoting and requiring from the faithful observance of the divine law; d) to establish norms and enact positive laws, according to the circumstances of time and place; e) to exorcise, when necessary, with superior authority, Satan and the evil spirits, this being a power conferred upon the apostles by Jesus Christ as confirmation of the truths they preached and taught.
The spirit of a. in the faithful is the fruit of charity toward God; for it is impossible to love God sincerely and fervently without in some way striving to make him more widely known and loved. In this sense, a. is the flowering of the love of God, demonstrating that every true Christian necessarily becomes an apostle of goodness.